We Are Many

Soothsayers – essentially, the duo of trumpeter Robin Hopcraft and saxophonist Idris Rahman working with a shifting ensemble of musicians – have been making reggae-informed music for all of this century. A personal favourite was when they teamed up with noted Jamaican vocalist Cornell Campbell for the Nothing Can Stop Us album while their guest appearances are legion (their horns help power Universal Roots’ ‘Brixton Dub’/’Gentrification Dub’ 12” 45, a stunning contemporary dub). We Are Many began as a recording session in So Paulo with Brazilian musicians and then, back in London, they were joined by locals Wu-Lu and Kwake.

UK-based Senegalese singer Modou Touré was enlisted to guest on one track while percussionists Satin Singh and Maurizio Ravalico added elements of Afrobeat, jazz and electronica. Soothsayers shaped all this over lockdown, adding solid harmony singing and angry yet uplifting lyrics – ‘We Won’t Lose Hope’, ‘Love And Unity’, ‘We Are Many’ – all demonstrating their reggae fusion sound. My only concerns here are a certain sameness to many of the songs: without a distinctive singer-songwriter and bandleader, a gentle groove comes to dominate. Watch out for Youthsayers, the teenage brass band Soothsayers have trained and overseen.